The Nigeria Labour Congress on Saturday said it would resist the privatisation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by the Federal Government.

The President of NLC, Abdulwaheed Omar, said speculations were rife that the ongoing fuel scarcity was a deliberate ploy by government to pave way for the privatisation of the downstream.

Omar spoke at the International Women’s Day celebration organised by the NLC Women Commission in Abuja.

Omar said, “I don’t know whether Nigerians are ready for this. I don’t know whether Nigerians will accept this. Do you think that Nigerians will be ready for this? No. What privatising it completely means is that government will just hands-off, fold its arms and watch the marketers do what they like.

“Marketers will try to maximise profit by squeezing Nigerians to the marrow. Can we allow this to happen? No. Is it not the responsibility of government? The responsibility of any responsible government is to ensure the welfare and security of its citizens.”

Omar asked why Nigeria has to import 100 per cent of the finished product when there were refineries that could be turned around.

In her address, the Chairperson of the NLC Women Commission, Lucy Offiong, condemned the recent killings of students in Yobe State and abduction of girls by the Boko Haram.

-Punch